How in the world do you get MAKE out of CONFIRM? The term "make" is not of part of that sentence in Daniel's prophecy. Jesus CONFIRMED the COVENANT that the Jews were under! And the apostles continued to CONFIRM that COVENANT for the next 3 1/2 years, "signs and wonder following them."
As I said before, the death of Christ did not literally end the sacrifice and grain offerings ... these literally ceased when the temple was destroyed 40 years later.
Literally, forgetting Christ's sacrifice, the ritual of the Jews sacrificing animals etcetera went on up to 70 AD, just as you say. However, in God's plan those sacrifices ceased with Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross - ALL sacrifices in the eyes of God were fulfilled with Jesus' sacrifice. What the Jews sacrificed after the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross doesn't mean beans - the NT is explicit on that!
You can't really continue to seriously argue for the past fulfillment of Daniels 70 weeks until you address this issue.
Issue addressed and I will seriously stand by what Curtis wrote in this article of his, for it is the same as I have concluded from my independent study of the issue over the last 40 years.
I copied and pasted the contents of Daniel directly from biblegateway.com; NASB version. (Incidently, biblegateway.com has a huge number of translations available online, inc. Greek; no matter what your escatological persuasion this site is a gem)
Jesus CONFIRMED the COVENANT that the Jews were under!
WHICH COVENANT? The Mosaic covenant or the New covenant of Jeremiah 31?
The first 69 weeks of this prophecy can be traced ... TO THE DAY, ... TO THE DATE ... and this was fulfilled LITERALLY ... I'm sure you have seen several expositors chart out the days from the decree. But now you are bringing in something foreign to the text to claim that the first 3 1/2 years of the 70th week spans Jesus ministry up to His death, then the 2nd 3 1/2 years is the apostles work. Where are your time markers in any passage that suggest the apostles confirmed the covenant for 3 1/2 years? There is nothing in the text of Daniel, Matthew, Acts, et. al. that shows the apostles were part of some 3 1/2 years to complete the fulfillment of Daniels 70th week.
At this point you have abandoned any dedication to a consistent literal hermeneutic (which you were content to use for the first 69 weeks). For example, where is your textual evidence that the time span between Jesus death and the conversion of Cornelius was 3 1/2 years? Isn't that critical to your argument? That the apostle confirmed the covenant to the Jews ... when that was complete they started to convert Gentiles? Seems like it is ... but correct me if I am wrong.
I could go on and discuss more evidence that the "He" in Daniel 9 is not Christ but the "put an end to sacrifice" is more than enough to raise a red flag concerning your interpretation here.
We could talk about all the "reason" statements ... "to finish the transgression, to make an end to sins," ... none of which has been completely fulfilled. Did the work of Christ form the basis for this eventual fulfillment? Absolutely!! ... but in no sense has the nation of Israel fulfilled these "reason" statements. The only thing you can say about all these "reason" statements is that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has provided the basis for the fulfillment of this prophecy given "to your people ... your holy city." Its ultimate fulfillment remains in the future.