I have a 98 forester,  the batter has gone dead  , the lights were left on.. now when I hook up jumper cables and get it restarted the four ways  and dash lights , and licence plate light all flash is some sort of cycle  ,  what causes this and how can I get it to stop?? 
Thank you!!! look forward to some help with this  ..  it did happen some years back... i believe there is some sort of reset button  under dash  or someting?????  I just can't remember!!!