18, 19. What reasons are given to show that “fleeing to the mountains” will not mean changing religion?

¹⁸ After foretelling ‘the standing of the disgusting thing in a holy place,’ Jesus warned discerning ones to act. Did he mean that at that late point​—when “the disgusting thing” is “standing in a holy place”—​many people will flee from false religion and take up true worship? Hardly. Consider the first fulfillment. Jesus said: “Let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Let the man on the housetop not come down, nor go inside to take anything out of his house; and let the man in the field not return to the things behind to pick up his outer garment. Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days! Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime.”​—Mark 13:14-18.

23, 24. (a) Where only will we find protection? (b) What effect should Jesus’ warning about ‘the disgusting thing standing in a holy place’ have on us?

²³ We must be certain that our refuge continues to be Jehovah and his mountainlike organization. (2 Samuel 22:2, 3; Psalm 18:2; Daniel 2:35, 44) That is where we will find protection! We will not imitate the masses of mankind who will flee to “the caves” and hide “in the rock-masses of the mountains”​—human organizations and institutions that may remain for a very short while after Babylon the Great is desolated. (Revelation 6:15; 18:9-11) True, times may get more difficult​—as they would have been in 66 C.E. for pregnant women who fled Judea or for anyone who had to travel in cold, rainy weather. But we can be sure that God will make survival possible. Let us even now reinforce our reliance on Jehovah and his Son, now reigning as King of the Kingdom.