"The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months."
In this verse we are told that the time period for the beast to exercise authority is forty-two months, or three and a half years.
The writer at pcra.org, (a website of The Protestant Reformed Churches of America), interprets the timeline differently, saying it is not three and a half Earth years: "In Christological terms, the 1,260 days or 42 months or 3 ½ times run
from Christ’s session at God’s right hand to His bodily return at the
end of the age. In terms of years, this period is from about AD 33 to
the present day and onwards, a time of almost 2,000 years so far. In
other words, the 1,260 days or 42 months or 3 ½ times are coextensive
with the “last days,” another important biblical term for the time
between Christ’s enthronement in heaven and His return on the clouds." In the article linked above, the author lists all the instances of mentions of this specific period of time; I think it's a good summary of all the different references to this time period. Many other writers and pastors, however, do believe this number refers to three and a half years on Earth.
Many of the commentary writers at Biblehub.com make references to the book of Daniel when discussing this chapter. Daniel 7:11, for instance, discusses the dream vision of Daniel in which Daniel is talking about the beast with the little horn, saying, "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the
horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its
body was destroyed and given to the burning fire." The beast in this verse, like the one in Revelation 13:5, is characterized as haughty and blasphemous; he doesn't have respect for God, but instead seems to believe himself to be God, and he says whatever he wants regardless of whether it is true or not, and directly blasphemes God in doing so.
In Ellicott's commentary on biblehub.com, the author makes the point that the verse says even the power of the beast's arrogance was given to him; even that is under God's control. Ellicott writes, "The 5th verse tells us that the liberty to speak and work was given to him. There is consolation in the words: he has no power beyond what is given; behind his reckless and apparently irresistible power there stands the veiled but real power of God."
A Prayer for Salvation from Christ:
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.
A more detailed step by step process:
https://www.wikihow.com/Accept-Jesus-Into-Your-Life
